One Camera, a Thousand Memories: Young Artsakh Photographer Has Exhibit in Yerevan

“Everything is different now. When I wake up in the morning, that same sense of mission is gone. My life has completely changed,” Nare shared.

She started getting interested in photography at age 14. She was inspired by the work of several photographers and students from Artsakh’s TUMO Creative Center. In Artsakh, Nare had been accepted to the Tumo Creative Center to study photography in the upcoming year, which of course did not happen. Using money she had received as birthday gifts, she bought her first camera.

She was 15 when the blockade happened in December 2022. Thus, she began documenting the reality of Artsakh—both through a photographic lens and with a journalist’s eye. She was frustrated by the international media’s silence and decided to serve as witness to her own story.

Nare captured nearly everything: from civil disobedience protests and bread lines to the daily life of volunteers. She translated her captions into English and shared her photographs on social media, doing everything she could to bring awareness of Artsakh’s fate.

Walking through the gallery this week, Nare presented some of the photographs on display. The first is an image of Martuni’s mayor, Aznavur Saghyan, taken at Yerablur military cemetery. Her expression darkened: “Aznavur is a true hero to me. When the Azerbaijani army surrounded the village, he protected the villagers at the cost of his life — and was killed in that very moment.”

Next, she showed receipts from the bread lines, photographs of vehicles loaded with belongings. She recounted how people waited long hours at checkpoints, and how she managed to document moments of displacement in the midst of it all.